"7-  A«S'.  5-  i Si. 

CONNECTICUT 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPEEIMESI  STATION 

NEW     HAVEN,    CONN. 


BULLETIN    156,  JUNE,   1907. 


Cotton  Seed  Meal  as  a  Fertilizer 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Color  of   Meal 3 

Price  of  Meal 3 

Guaranties 4 

The  Phosphoric  Acid  and  Potash  in  Meal 5 

Law  Regarding  Brand  and  Guaranty 6 

Rebates 7 


The  Bulletins  of  this  Station  are  mailed  free  to  citizens  of  Con- 
necticut who  apply  for  them,  and  to  others  as  far  as  the  editions 
permit. 


CONNECTICUT  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

OFFICEES    -A-HSTID    STAFF. 


BOARD   OF   CONTROL. 
His  Excellency,  Rollin   S.  Woodruff,  Ex  officio,  President. 

Prof.  W.  H.  Brewer,  Secretary  New  Haven. 

B.  W.  Collins   Meriden. 

Prof.  H.  W.  Conn  Middletown. 

Edwin  Hoyt   New  Canaan. 

Charles  M.  Jarvis  Berlin. 

J.  H.  Webb  Hamden. 

E.  H.  Jenkins,  Director  and  Treasurer New  Haven. 


STATION   STAFF. 

Chemists. 

Analytical  Laboratory. 

John  P.  Street,  M.S.,  Chemist  in  Charge. 

E.  Monroe  Bailey,  M.S.  E.  J.  Shanley,  Ph.B. 

Kate  G.  Barber,  Ph.D.,  Microscopist. 

Laboratory  for  the  Study  of  Proteids. 
T.  B.  Osborne,  Ph.D.,  Chemist  in  Charge.        G.  A.  Brautlecht,  Ph.B. 

Botanist. 
G.  P.  Clinton,  S.D. 

Entomologist. 
W.  E.  Brttton,  Ph.D. 

Assistant  in  Entomology. 
B.  H.  Walden,  B.Agr. 

Forester. 
Austin  F.  Hawes,  M.F. 

Agronomist. 
Edward  M.  East,  M.S. 

Stenographers  and  Clerks. 

Miss  V.  E.  Cole. 
Miss  L.  M.  Brautlecht. 
Miss  E.  B.  Whittlesey. 

In  charge  of  Buildings  and  Grounds. 
William  Veitch. 

Laboratory  Helper. 
Hugo  Lange. 

Sampling  Agent. 
V.  L.  Churchill,  New  Haven. 


COTTON  SEED  MEAL  AS  A  FERTILIZER 


E.  H.  Jenkins  and  John  Phillips  Street. 


Cotton  seed  meal  is  used  quite  generally  in  this  state  for 
feeding  purposes,  but  a  much  larger  amount,  not  less  than  five 
thousand  tons,  is  used  every  year  as  a  fertilizer  for  tobacco, 
for  which  is  paid,  in  the  aggregate,  about  $155,000. 

The  growers  of  wrapper  leaf  tobacco  generally  believe  that 
finer  quality  of  leaf  is  obtained  by  applications  of  cotton  seed 
meal  than  by  the  use  of  fish,  tankage,  or  other  animal  fertilizers. 

COLOR  OF  MEAL. 

While  bright  meal  is  the  only  kind  considered  safe  for  feed- 
ing, dark,  off-color  meal  is,  as  far  as  known,  equally  valuable 
as  a  fertilizer.  Meal  may  become  dark  by  the  spontaneous 
heating  of  damp  stock,  by  overheating  before  pressing,  or  by 
long  exposure  to  light.  Neither  of  these  should  make  the 
nitrogen  of  the  meal  less  available  to  crops.  Often  dark  meals 
run  high  in  nitrogen,  but  as  frequently,  perhaps,  run  low.  The 
color  of  meal  is,  therefore,  no  index  of  the  quantity  of  nitrogen 
in  it. 

PRICE  OF  MEAL. 

Formerly  cotton  seed  meal  was  bought  at  relatively  low 
figures,  so  that  the  nitrogen  in  it  cost  much  less  than  in  the 
other  high-grade  nitrogenous  matters.  Thus,  in  1899,  it  sold 
freely  at  an  average  price  of  $22.80  per  ton,  making  the  nitrogen 
in  it  cost  12.9  cents  per  pound,  which  was  less  that  the  cost  in 
any  other  agriculturally  available  form.  Since  then  the  price 
has  quite  regularly  advanced,  as  appears  in  the  following 
statement : 


Average 

Average 

Percent,  of 

Nitrog< 

Nitrogen. 

Pound. 

7.14 

12.9 

7.26 

14-3 

7.24 

15-0 

7.08 

16.4 

7.09 

15-9 

7-13 

l6.3 

6-93 

l6.7 

6.60 

21. 1 

4  connecticut  experiment  station  bulletin  1 56. 

Average  Retail  Cost  per  Ton  of  Cotton  Seed  Meal  in  Connecticut. 
Percentage  of  Nitrogen  and  Cost  per  Pound  of  Nitrogen. 

Ton 
Year.  Price. 

1899  $22.80 

1900  25.20 

1901  26.08 

1902  27.64 

1903  26.96 

1904  2771 

1905   • 27.50 

1906  32.25 

i907f  3105      6.85      19.4 

These  figures  show  an  advance  of  more  than  forty  per  cent, 
in  the  ton  price  in  the  last  seven  years.  They  also  show,  in 
the  last  three  years,  a  considerable  decline  in  the  average 
quantity  of  nitrogen.  This  cannot  be  fully  explained  by  a 
single  bad  season.  It  is  claimed  that  last  year  the  seed  was 
damaged  in  the  field  and  in  consequence  it  was  not  possible 
to  hull  the  seed  as  perfectly  as  in  normal  seasons,  so  that  the 
resulting  meal  contained  more  hulls  and,  in  consequence,  less 
nitrogen  than  usual.  Certainly  some  meals  contain  more  hulls 
than  they  should,  and  these  are  not  in  coarse  particles  as  in 
the  undecorticated  meal,  but  are  very  finely  ground,  in  which 
shape  they  do  not  darken  the  meal  so  much,  and  make  detection 
more  difficult. 

GUARANTIES. 

The  main  trouble,  however,  with  cotton  seed  meal  has  been 
the  great  uncertainty  as  to  its  composition  and  quality,  the 
worthlessness  of  many  of  the  guaranties  and  the  difficulty  of 
getting  satisfaction  from  certain  firms  whose  meal  had  far 
less  nitrogen  than  was  claimed. 

During  the  last  few  months  the  station  has  examined  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  samples  of  cotton  seed  meal,  repre- 
senting more  than  two  thousand  tons.  The  prices  have  ranged 
from  $28.00  to  $32.75,  the  average  being  $31.05  per  ton. 

The  percentage  of  nitrogen  has  ranged  from  5.69  to  8.14, 
the  average  being  6.85. 


*  Allowing  $4.42  per  ton  for  the  phosphoric  acid  and  potash. 
fTo  date. 


COTTON   SEED    MEAL  AS  A  FERTILIZER.  5 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  samples  on  which  a  guaranty 
was  reported,  forty-one,  or  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole 
number,  failed  to  meet  the  guaranty.  Twenty-five  out  of 
fifty-one  samples  of  "choice"  meal  fell  below  that  grade  and 
eight  did  not  even  meet  the  guaranty  for    "extra  prime." 

Several  dealers  within  the  state  have  paid  rebates  to  pur- 
chasers in  cases  where  the  meal  failed  to  meet  the  guaranty, 
and  certain  of  the  commission  houses  at  the  south  have 
promptly  made  good  these  shortages.  Others,  it  is  understood, 
decline  to  allow  any  rebates  in  such  cases. 

THE  PHOSPHORIC  ACID   AND  POTASH   IN   MEAL. 

Besides  nitrogen,  cotton  seed  meal  contains  relatively  small 
quantities  of  phosphoric  acid  and  of  potash. 

The  average,  highest  and  lowest  percentages  of  the  three 
ingredients  found  in  decorticated  meal  by  the  Massachusetts, 
New  Jersey  and  Connecticut  Stations,  are  summarized  below. 

New  Jersey.  Mass.  Conn. 

144  analyses,         130  analyses.  75  analyses. 

Nitrogen  Average   7.14  7.16  7.18 

Highest    7.69  —  8.08 

Lowest    6.52  —  6.01 

Phosphoric  Acid  Average   3.09  2.86  2.94 

Highest    3.75  —  3.69 

Lowest    2.00  —  1.70 

Potash   Average    1.82  2.01  1.87 

Highest    2.09  —  2.22 

Lowest    1.49  —  0.99 

The  general  average  calculated  from  these  349  analyses  is 
2.97  per  cent,  of  phosphoric  acid  and  1.90  per  cent,  of  potash. 

The  figure  for  phosphoric  acid  is  0.18  per  cent,  lower  than 
we  have  assumed  and  for  potash  the  same  that  we  have  assumed 
for  some  years  in  calculating  the  cost  per  pound  of  nitrogen  in 
cotton  seed  meal. 

The  average  percentages  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  in 
cotton  seed  meal,  assumed  to  be  3.15  and  1.90  respectively,  are 
valued  together  at  $4.42  per  ton.  To  determine  the  cost  of 
nitrogen,  the  above  figure  is  subtracted  from  the  ton  price  and 
the  remainder,  after  multiplying  by  100  to  reduce  it  to  cents,  is 
divided  by  the  number  of  pounds  of  nitrogen  in  a  ton  of  meal. 


6  CONNECTICUT  EXPERIMENT  STATION  BULLETIN    1 56. 

Thus  if  a  sample  of  meal  contains  6.94  per  cent,  of  nitrogen 
(which  is  equivalent  to  138.8  pounds  in  the  ton)  and  costs 
$27.50  per  ton,  27.50  —  4.42  =  23.08.  And  2,308  divided  by 
138.8  =  16.6,  which  is  the  cost  of  nitrogen  per  pound  in  cents. 

Inspection  of  the  range  of  percentages  of  potash  and  phos- 
phoric acid  will  show  that  the  error  caused  by  assuming  an 
average  percentage  of  these  two  ingredients  instead  of 
determining  them  in  each  sample  would  not  amount  in 
extreme  cases  to  more  than  half  a  cent  on  the  calculated  cost 
of  nitrogen. 

LAW  REGARDING  BRAND  AND  GUARANTY  OF  MEAL. 

Under  the  laws  of  this  state  cotton  seed  meal  is  classed  as 
a  commercial  feed  and  not  as  a  fertilizer.  The  law  regarding 
commercial  feeds  (General  Statutes,  §4592)  requires  that 
every  lot 

"shall  have  affixed  thereto,  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  outside 
thereof,  a  legible  and  plainly  printed  statement,  certifying  the  number 
of  net  pounds  of  feeding  stuff  contained  therein,  the  name,  brand,  or 
trade-mark  under  which  the  article  is  sold,  the  name  and  address  of 
the  manufacturer  or  importer,  and  a  statement  of  the  percentage  it 
contains  of  crude  fat  and  of  crude  protein,  allowing  one  per  cent,  of 
nitrogen  to  equal  six  and  one-fourth  per  cent,  of  protein,"  etc. 

The  sale  of  cotton  seed  meal  or  other  commercial  feed  which 
does  not  comply  with  the  above  requirements  is  illegal  and 
renders  the  person  who  sells  the  meal  in  Connecticut  liable  to 
a  fine  of  $100  for  the  first  offense  and  $200  for  the  second. 

The  attention  of  dealers  within  the  state  is  called  to  the 
matter  now,  that  they  may  have  it  in  mind  in  contracting  at  the 
south  for  deliveries  next  fall  and  winter. 

The  manufacturers  should  certainly  give  correct  guaranties 
and  not  throw  this  burden  and  the  possibility  of  prosecution  on 
the  dealer,  who  has  no  chance  to  examine  the  goods  till 
delivered  to  him  and  paid  for. 

With  the  best  effort  on  the  part  of  manufacturers,  shipments 
will  sometimes  contain  somewhat  less  nitrogen  than  is 
guaranteed,  but  when  a  third  of  the  shipments  fall  below 
guaranty  it  is  clear  that  this  can  only  be  explained  by  gross 
ignorance,  carelessness,  or  fraud. 


cotton  seed  meal  as  a  fertilizer.  7 

Rebates.  . 

The  question  is  frequently  asked  when  a  rebate  should  be 
claimed  and  on  what  basis  it  should  be  figured. 

The  unavoidable  errors  of  analysis  certainly  amount  to  0.05 
per  cent.  Errors  in  sampling,  where  great  care  is  used,  may 
amount  to  0.1  or  0.15  per  cent. 

In  our  opinion  if  the  per  cent,  of  nitrogen  found  in  a  sample 
is  not  0.2  per  cent,  below  the  guaranty,  no  rebate  should  be 
claimed,  but  if  it  is  0.2  per  cent,  or  more  below  guaranty, 
rebate  should  be  paid  on  the  whole  percentage  below. 

A  fair  way  to  calculate  the  rebate  is  the  following : 

The  amounts  of  phosphoric  acid  and  potash  in  a  ton  of  meal 
calculated  at  ruling  prices  are  worth  about  $4.42.  Suppose 
meal  is  sold  at  $32.00.  Deducting  $4.42  leaves  $27.58  for 
cost  of  nitrogen  alone.  If  6.5  per  cent,  are  guaranteed,  or  130 
pounds  per  ton,  a  pound  of  nitrogen  in  this  meal  sells  for 
$27.58  -^  130,  or  21.22  cents. 

If  the  meal  contains  only  6.25  per  cent,  (or  125  pounds  per 
ton)  there  is  a  shortage  of  five  pounds  which,  at  21.22  cents 
per  pound,  is  $1.06  per  ton,  the  amount  of  the  rebate.  This 
is  a  little  higher  than  the  rebate  allowed  under  the  rules  of  the 
Cotton  Seed  Crushers  Association. 

Occasionally  samples  of  meal  contain  exceptionally  high  per- 
centages of  nitrogen.  Thus  six  samples  analyzed  recently  have 
from  8.08  to  8.14  per  cent. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  cotton  seed  meal  of  low  grade 
may  be  "fortified"  by  mixing  with  it  either  sulphate  of  ammonia, 
nitrate  of  soda,  or  some  animal  matter  to  improve  its  analysis. 

The  average  cost  of  nitrogen  in  cotton  seed  meal  is  a  little 
less  than  20  cents.  The  cost  of  nitrogen  in  nitrate  is  17.5  cents 
and  in  dried  blood  nearly  as  much.  The  margin  of  profit  in 
the  mixing  would  be  very  small  at  most.  Nevertheless  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  samples  analyzed  this  spring  have  been 
tested  for  ammonia  and  nitrate  with  negative  results,  and 
microscopic  examination  has  never  showed  the  presence  of  any- 
thing foreign  to  the  cotton  seed. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

LYRASIS  members  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/cottonseedmealasOOjenk 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


39153028850867 


